[citation needed] In November 1971, the CBC filed license applications for new FM stations in English in St. John's, Halifax, and Calgary; and in French in Quebec City, Ottawa, and Chicoutimi, telling the CRTC that it intended to start a second "more extended and more leisurely" program service on its FM stations, tentatively to be called "Radio Two".

In 2006, speculation arose that Radio Two programming would undergo a format and name change, similar to that which its French counterpart Espace musique undertook in 2004; however, no plans were announced until January 2007.

[citation needed] In March 2008, the CBC announced plans to complete the transformation of Radio 2, significantly altering its daytime programming lineup.

In essence, the morning and afternoon drive programs, which had focused almost exclusively on classical music, were replaced with new shows featuring a wider range of genres.

The goal, according to the CBC, was to increase exposure of musicians and genres, other than classical and jazz, which received little airtime on private radio.

[citation needed] Concomitantly, four web radio streams – all-classical, jazz, singer-songwriter, and "Canadian composer" – were introduced.

On June 10, the CBC announced that hosts associated with the new programming would include Julie Nesrallah, Molly Johnson and Rich Terfry.

There was a vocal, negative response to these changes from a variety of sources connected with the community ranging from Facebook to blogs[6] to newspaper columnists.

However, the move drew support from other corners of the cultural community, noting in many cases the low ratings of the existing service.

[9][10][11] While critics, particularly Globe and Mail columnist Russell Smith, raised the spectre of the network airing mainstream pop artists such as Nelly Furtado and The Black Eyed Peas,[12] the network's popular music component consists almost exclusively of artists who would be classified as adult album alternative, folk, world music or singer-songwriter pop – and very few of whom receive any airplay whatsoever on commercial radio.

For instance, on one representative day in 2009, Radio 2 Morning's "pop" playlist included Feist, John Mayer, Blue Rodeo, Sloan, Neil Young, Whiskeytown, Spirit of the West, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Joni Mitchell, Matthew Barber, Eleni Mandell, Skydiggers, Billy Bragg, Jeremy Fisher, Jim Bryson, The Be Good Tanyas, The Duhks, Sarah Slean, Stephen Fearing, Melissa McClelland, Cowboy Junkies, Howie Beck and the Band.

[citation needed] Despite the controversy, the format change was successful for the network, which maintained a consistent overall audience while lowering the average age of its listenership from 65 to 52 in January 2010.

CBC Music also has a more consistent national schedule than Radio One; currently the originating stations produce only limited regional programming, such as weather updates.

After the CRTC ordered the CBC to stop broadcasting ads on the network in 2016, international users have regained access to all five domestic streams.

The service is distributed via the CBC Music website, and accompanying mobile apps, initially launched for Android, iOS, and BlackBerry OS.

[24] In December 2013, the site also launched the first issue of CBC Music Magazine, an e-magazine distributed in both iOS and Android formats.

During the 2005 Canadian Media Guild lockout, the normal schedule was temporarily replaced by continuous music from Galaxie (then owned by the CBC), except for short news updates at the top of each hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time.

This block aired from 7 to 8 p.m. until February 2021, when it was moved to 6 p.m. Angeline Tetteh-Wayoe hosts The Block, a program devoted to black music genres such as hip hop, soul and rhythm and blues, at 7 p.m. Odario Williams hosts After Dark in the evenings, while Nightstream, a hostless stream of continuous music, airs overnights.

For the remainder of the day, however, the network airs a variety of specialty programs, mainly devoted to particular genres of music, rather than replicating the weekday schedule.

[32] Listener feedback and online voting determines the artists who advance to the next round,[32] until the national stage of the competition begins on Q.

[32] When the list has been narrowed to ten artists, three established musicians step in as judges, who each pick their own favourite act.